A threat to freedom of conscience

Howard Killion Oceanside

John Terrell’s Dec. 9 letter is a slight-of-hand trick (“Stop wasting time, money of religious crusade”).

He claims that we defenders of freedom of conscience are doing the infringing. Clever! But what he’s actually doing is foolishly supporting President Obama’s unprecedented assault on freedom of religious conscience, which is fundamental to our democracy.

By executive order, Obama insists that thousands of Christian hospitals and schools must provide the means to end unborn lives – in clear violation of Christian conscience – or shut down.

Terrell misinterprets James Madison’s early draft of the First Amendment. Like the other founders, Madison saw Judeo-Christian values as necessary for a democracy. Therefore, he advocated freedom from government collecting taxes to support an established church like the Church of England, and freedom from government interference in the exercise of religion. These rights are exactly what the religious portion of the First Amendment stipulates.

(To view Madison’s draft in its historical context, see the Library of Congress’ official documentary exhibit, “Religion and the Foundation of the American Republic,” www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion.)

Obama’s wielding of federal government power by executive order here undermines the freedom of religious conscience of all Americans – regardless of our specific loyalties and agendas, including Terrell’s. Actually, all freedom of conscience is at risk.